Grandslam #21

THE GRANDSLAM

SRC BRIDGE SECTION NEWSLETTER

SEP/OCT 03 ISSUE #21









1. Message from the Incoming Convenor – B. K. Tham



Hi SRC Bridge Players

On behalf of everyone who went on the Bridge retreat to Genting, I would like to thank Shamim and Zain for organising this fantastic event and all the extra effort they took to ensure we all had a comfortable and enjoyable trip.

The number of participants at our Monday practice session continues to run close to full capacity. While this is a good sign, we do recognize that our Milne Lounge venue is lacking in many ways. The place is small, noisy and warm. We are working with the SRC Management Committee to come up with an acceptable alternative. Please be patient.

We continue to do well in the tournaments we participate in (see details below) and it is especially encouraging to see our newer members progressing so well and achieving such good results in so short a time.

So until the next issue, I wish one and all – “Good Bidding”.



2. SGCC Friendly Spades Tournament – 13th July

18 pairs participated in this invitational match which had a wide mix from raw beginners to very experienced players. There were quite a few surprises as the favourites were soundly humbled. Nevertheless, 5 of the 6 players from SRC ended up above 50% as follows :- 3rd (Shamim), 5th (Zain), 6th (Helen Ang) and 9th (BK & Helen Tham).

Alan Chua & Lena Tan (CCC) won the tournament. Dr. Siak (NUS) & Ronald Quan and Shamim Moledina (SRC) & Molly Wee (PA) were 2nd and 3rd respectively.



3. CSC Monthly Tournament--July & August Match

SRC took both first and second place in the 17-pair July event on July 25 through Zain & Shamim Moledina and Carl Parker & Chris Wong. Kan & Robin of CSC were 3rd. SRC’s Dorothy Wong (partnering Ron Savage) was 6th.



On Aug 16, SRC’s Zain & Shamim retained their title in the August event with over 70%. The Chias (SCBA) were second in this field of 17 pairs. SRC’s Dorothy Wong (partnering Ron Savage) and Pat and Leong all scored over 50%.



4. SCBA Pesta Sukan Open Pairs Tournament 1st Aug

The tournament was held at Le Meridien Hotel at Orchard Rd and attracted 34 of the best pairs Singapore has to offer (and some from the region as well!). It was both a tough and close contest, which was narrowly won by Hua Poon/Choon Chou Loo on a mere 59.8%. SCBA President Steve Robinson and Samir Datta were a hair’s breath behind at 59.7%.

SRC had 2 players participating and both managed over 50%. Zain Moledina (partnering Peter Arnett) achieved 51.8% and Yu Chun Yee (partnering Tung) close behind at 51.4%.



5. PARC 3rd Anniversary Pairs Tournament 23rd August

28 Pairs contested this event in a scrambled Mitchell movement of 28 boards. The overall winners were T. K. Yap and M. K. Kang from CSC. Zain and Shamim Moledina (representing PARC) were second with Victor Lim and Y. F. Thong.

By virtue of their runner’s up position, Zain & Shamim won the PARC Section prize with PARC Convenor Lee Chin & Isabel second (overall 8th). Congratulations to all.



6. SGCC Sparkling Diamonds Tournament 30th August

In this mixed group of 22 pairs, Jack & Wan Yee Simpson nipped Zain Moledina (SRC) & Rahim Rahmat to win this tournament. Peter & Anna Arnett took 3rd place, Pauline & Yun Yee were 4th and Shamim Moledina (SRC) & David Chew were 5th.



7. Genting Bridge Escapade #3 (Return of the G. Die)

This year’s trip saw a record number of people (37) heading up to Genting Highlands for 5 days of food galore, R & R and, of course, lots of bridge. Several players from SICC & TC joined our regulars from CSC, CBC, SRC, PA and SGCC to make the 7-hour journey into the cool mountains for some hot bridge action.



Eagle-eyed Rana won the “Spot the Spots” contest where the contestants had to locate various landmarks en route.



The journey had little impact on the enthusiasm of the players as 13 pairs fought it out on the very first night in the large and bright Geno Hall. Chun Yee (SRC)/Ping won the first match with Helen & BK (SRC) second and Jenny/Rana (PA) third.



After a throat exercise at the Karaoke session the next day, 14 pairs were back at the bridge tables to exercise their brains. Lucy/Priscilla (SICC) beat Shamim (SRC)/Molly (PA) and David/Murli (SICC) into a tied second place.



The third day saw many people participating in the casino chips programme. Later Soh Hong & Koh (PA) topped the 14-pair event, ahead of David/Eng Choo (CBC) and Jane (PA)/Veronica(CBC).



Rana & David were again in top form on the 4th day in a 14-pair field. Molly (PA)/Zain (SRC) came second with Jenny/Pricilla (SICC) third.



Gifts and food vouchers were presented to all the various winners. In reality, there were no losers at all as there was so much laughter and bonding throughout the 5 days.



The final morning saw many making a last ditch effort at the casino before boarding the private coach back to the heat of Singapore.



8. SRC Monday Bridge Results – July 7th to Aug 25th

DATE Pairs FIRST SECOND THIRD

7 Jul 15 Zain/Greg Rahim/Ron S Richard/Jane

14 Jul 12 Koh/Lucy Rahim/Ron S Leong/Pat & Dot/Ron O

21 Jul Cancelled due to Genting Escapade #3

28 Jul 9 Ron O/YunYee Rahim/Ron S Carl/Chris

4 Aug 8 Molly/Jane Anna/Peter A. Kanan/Greg

11 Aug 13 Pat/Leong EkHwang/Rana Pat/John S

18 Aug 13 Yu/BK Pat/John S Chris/SuanLin

Peter/Anna

25 Aug 10 Zain/Shamim Anna/Peter A. Lucy/Koh



9. Claim with Care by Peter Arnett
Claiming the rest of the tricks is a common occurrence in bridge, yet some players fail to make the claim correctly and some may not know how to respond properly.



A claim occurs when the Declarer or either Defender makes a statement that he will make a specified number of tricks, or shows his hand, or otherwise indicates that play should be curtailed. A claim should be accompanied at once by a statement of clarification as to the order in which cards will be played, and the line of play through which the claimant proposes to win the tricks claimed. Once this is done, no variations to the statement are allowed.



It is important to note that once a claim has been made, the play ceases. In most cases the opponents are satisfied with the claim and the hand can be scored up.



However, when the claim is disputed, many players continue to play on so as to see what will happen and to prove which party is correct. This is absolutely wrong. A disputed claim must be referred to the Director, who will void any play made after the claim.



In a disputed claim, the burden of proof lies with the claimant and the Director must resolve any doubtful points against the claimant. The Director must first ask the claimant to REPEAT his statement of claim. The claimant is not allowed to vary his original statement. All the remaining cards to be played are then faced on the table, after which the Director hears any objections from the opponents.



A disputed claim arose at the SRC Inter-Club Teams tournament in June. A slam contract was at stake and declarer had claimed his contract with half the cards still to be played. The claim occurred when a trump was still outstanding and a possible blockage might have occurred in a side suit.



Whether the claimant could in fact make the contract was not relevant as Law 70 gives the benefit of the doubt against the claimant. The claim needed to have been much more precise when the claim was originally made. Additional clarification by the claimant after the director was called was not valid and had to be ignored by the director.



A claimant must therefore be extra careful if an opponent still holds one or more trumps at the time of the claim. If the claimant fails to mention that "he will draw the remaining trumps", and could lose a trick to a trump by any normal or careless play, then the Director must award a trick or tricks to the opponents.



A claimant must also be careful to state how he proposes to play a finesse or drop position, as the Director shall not accept any unstated line of play in this regard even if the cards are in the right place for the finesse or drop to work.



With so many rules and procedures to observe, you may be forgiven for wondering why anyone would want to make a claim in the first place. The main reason is to save time. In many hands the skill lies in the bidding and in planning the play. Thereafter, and particularly after trumps have been drawn, many hands will often "play themselves".



It helps to make for a faster game if players learn how to make a claim in clear situations and how to agree with, or dispute properly, a claim made by their opponent.



Experienced players should never take advantage of bridge novices in a claim situation and should instead be prepared to take the time to explain the rest of the play in detail. In this way, less experienced players are able to learn and build up their confidence in making and dealing with
claims. At the same time, especially in "serious" tournaments, a claim must always be made and dealt with according to the laws.



No matter what, always keep smiling -- after all, it is only a game.



10. Believe it or Not
Charles Goren disliked Sam Stayman and never would call the Stayman convention by name in his bridge column; instead he would called it the 2C convention.



11. Tip of the Month

Bridge experts know that although the actual playing of bridge occupies a major part of their bridge time, they make certain that they keep a significant part of it for analysing/discussing mistakes, reading bridge books, studying hands and developing/understanding conventions.

12. Bridge and Life

Life and Bridge have a lot of similarity. There are unlimited ways the cards may fall and you will have to use your ideas and judgement to make appropriate decisions and what action to take. Personal ability alone will not see you through. You will need luck as well. You will also have to depend on your partners and have the smarts to take advantage of the mistakes of your opponents when the opportunity arises.



13. Wrong and Right

It takes a good bridge player to readily admit when he is wrong and even a better player to keep his mouth shut when he is right.



14. Sick of Bad Cards

Bad cards, like the common cold, must run its course.



15. Success

Success is not only measured by how many tournaments you win. In its purest sense, it occurs when you make an effort to be better today than you were yesterday and try to become even better tomorrow.



? ? Puzzles ? ? Puzzles ? ? Puzzles ? ?



16. Breaking (the bank at) Genting

How many words (3 letters or more) can you make from the letters:-

G E N T I N G



17. Shortening The Bridge (really easy!)

Can you take the 6-letter word “BRIDGE” and remove one letter to form another word. Then keep removing one letter at a time while making new words until you are left with a 1-letter word. You are not allowed to change the order of the letters. (find all 3 sequences if you can)



18. Where are the Monarchs?

Three picture cards have been removed from a pack of bridge cards and placed face down in a horizontal row. To the right of a King there are one or two Queens. To the left of a Queen there are one or two Queens. To the left of a Heart there are one or two Spades. To the right of a Spade there are one or two Spades.
What are the three cards and their positions?



19. Circular Reasoning

A woman who wanted to improve her memory decided to join a bridge course. Halfway through filling the registration form, she crumpled it up and walked away saying,

“If I could remember my IC number, Telephone number and my Postal Code, I would not be registering for this course in the first place.”



20. Daffy-nit-shuns – Enthusiast/Fanatic

The difference between a bridge enthusiast and a bridge fanatic is night and all night.



21. Huh?

“If you are always making your contract, you are not bidding high enough.”



22. Winning Strategy

After a grueling 36-board event, the winner was asked which part of the match was the most crucial to his victory.



Without any hesitation he replied, “The coffee break”



23. How’s That Again?

This was announced at a Bridge Tournament recently:

“The game will begin once the buffet lunch is over and the waitresses have taken everything off”



24. The Bridge on the River Kwai (a Feghoot by Inzane)

The infamous Bridge on the River Kwai became well known all around the world after the movie was made.



But after 50 years, time and heavy traffic had taken its toll and the bridge became quite wobbly and shaky and a safety hazard. The authorities decided that it should be replaced with an exact replica, but using strong modern material. The original bridge would not be demolished due to its historical significance, and it would stand next to the new bridge as a tourist attraction.

The pair came to be known as Rubber Bridge and Duplicate Bridge.

(Feel free to groan)



25. Answers : Breaking (the bank at) Genting

As everybody knows, it isn’t easy to break (the bank at) Genting. I can only find 14 words -- most of them just 3 letters.

egg gent get gig gin inn net nine nit ten tie tin tine tinge



26. Answers : Shortening The Bridge

BRIDGE BRIDE (or RIDGE) RIDE RID ID I

or BRIDGE BRIDE BIDE BID ID I



27. Answers : Where are the Monarchs?

From left to right, the cards are:- SK SQ HQ



Editor: Zain Moledina

1st September 2003